TeamQuest sold to Minneapolis based HelpSystems

A Minneapolis, Minn. based software company announced the acquisition of TeamQuest, Clear Lake, on Dec. 15.

Company officials from HelpSystems were in Clear Lake Thursday and Friday to share the news with employees and start planning a successful integration.

“Moving from reactive to proactive IT management is a major initiative for organizations today,” said Chris Heim, CEO, HelpSystems.  “By bringing TeamQuest into the family, we enrich the company with a remarkable amount of expertise and great products to help organizations make sure their IT environment is stepping up today – and tomorrow.”

TeamQuest is based in Minneapolis with substantial operations in Clear Lake, Gothenburg, Sweden, and around the world.  HelpSystems leaders says that with TeamQuest’s solutions, customers get the most from their IT infrastructures -- both physical and virtual – by expertly monitoring current environments and by anticipating future needs of the business and making sure IT investment is properly aligned.

“We are very impressed with the product line and we are committed to continue investing in it,” said Dan Mayleben, CFO, HelpSystems. “TeamQuest has a strong history of listening to its customers and taking good care of them and we look forward to continuing that tradition as this becomes a critical part of our fast-growing software company.”

HelpSystems leadership say there are no plans to close the Clear Lake office.

According to officials, TeamQuest CEO Paul Hesser and CFO Clay Anderson have left the company to pursue other opportunities.  Other redundancies in positions between the two companies may result in further employee changes.  New employees may also be hired.

TeamQuest was formed in Clear Lake in January 1991 by three former members of the Unisys Corp. Clear Lake software development team.  Robert Krieger served as president of the new company.  Jarred Ruble was vice president of software development and Terry Cobb was vice president of marketing and services.  The business initially employed a staff of about 40 people recruited from personnel working at the Unisys Corp. Clear Lake Center when it closed its doors in 1990.

Krieger passed away in 2004.  Ruble retired from the company as its CEO in 2014, but remained a director on its board, as did Cobb following his retirement.

In March, TeamQuest eliminated 32 positions, citing a decline in the mainframe segment of its business due to market adoption of more modern technologies.  At that time CEO Paul Hesser said TeamQuest was “in the midst of a company transformation.”